Jason holgate
40 Cal
What got you interested in flintlocks? How many people have you introduced to the hobby? Seems we all recruit friends family and they get hooked!!!!
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What got you interested in flintlocks?
- Thread starter Jason holgate
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Cruzatte
50 Cal.
- 1. The Foxfire Books, specifically Foxfire V
- None. All my friends who are interested are already into the hobby. The rest, not so much.
To me a caplock is the crossbow of the muzzleloader world. Less skill required to shoot. I am not interested in that. Were I hunting to stay alive I might have a different view, but I will eat just fine if I don't harvest an animal with a muzzleloader. I want to have to manage the rifle better, I want to get closer, I want to have to execute the shot very well.
To be honest, never had much of an interest until I moved to PA. Just trying to make use of PA.'s late "flintlock only" deer season.
Have to admit though, it is fun and I've learned a lot from members of this forum.
Have to admit though, it is fun and I've learned a lot from members of this forum.
Availability of primers is what originally got me thinking of alternate ignition source firearms. I was heavy in to combat pistol competition, but then ammo dried up, which didn’t concern me too much, because I pour my own projectiles, and hand load my own bullets… then primers went away. So I qui shooting pistol, and hoarding all my primers. I have an in-line black powder, but the same issue exists for it. So I got to thinking on flintlocks, but put it on the back burner until now. Now the whole idea just intrigues me. I’ve watched so many videos on them, from building to using, historical shows, everything I can find. So I ordered one to start on this weekend. Really just starting out…
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in the late 50's we had a neighbor lady that stood about 4' tall. She owned a family heirloom from somewhere in the Appalachians. said heirloom was the longest, slimmest, most elegant rifle i had ever seen. It hung above the mantle on their stone fireplace.
being of unending curiosity and boundless mischief making, and being the Huck Finn to her sons Tom Sawyer, we snuck that rifle out one day. we had a rudimentary idea of how it worked and we set about with match heads getting a poof of smoke from the pan.
being somewhat blood thirsty we aimed it down range at Ginniy's Plymouth Rock rooster. not a thought that it might be loaded until it went off with a cloud of smoke that instantly soaked into my soul.
after we buried the late rooster and replaced the rifle over the fireplace, swearing each other to silence until death, i would wake up thinking of that glorious cloud of smoke. about that time Ginny's daughter got my attention and it was years before i had the pleasure of a flintlock again. i still remember the feeling i got from that Mountain rifle. and Ginny's daughter.
being of unending curiosity and boundless mischief making, and being the Huck Finn to her sons Tom Sawyer, we snuck that rifle out one day. we had a rudimentary idea of how it worked and we set about with match heads getting a poof of smoke from the pan.
being somewhat blood thirsty we aimed it down range at Ginniy's Plymouth Rock rooster. not a thought that it might be loaded until it went off with a cloud of smoke that instantly soaked into my soul.
after we buried the late rooster and replaced the rifle over the fireplace, swearing each other to silence until death, i would wake up thinking of that glorious cloud of smoke. about that time Ginny's daughter got my attention and it was years before i had the pleasure of a flintlock again. i still remember the feeling i got from that Mountain rifle. and Ginny's daughter.
HISTORY! I read a lot of it!!
We moved to Indiana in 1970 not knowing Friendship or muzzle loading even existed. A friend suggested we visit a shoot. Took about five minutes after walking in the gate and I was hooked. I developed an interest in history and got addicted to flinters early on. I still use a cap banger but the heritage is in my hands only when holding a flint lock rifle.
Sidney Smith
58 Cal.
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Started out shooting percussion but always just felt like I needed to try flintlocks. Once I did, I never went back.
64Springer
75 Cal.
Me thinks you're on an island by yourself.
The delay, any delay, is what frustrates me about flinters.
A Pedersoli 1766 Charleville with an extreme delay is what got me into flinters. Then I made a hammer and turned into a percussion shotgun.
Then I bought an antique .62 smooth bore barrel and built a flinter shotgun around it. No delay. Which is pretty good for a six inch Chambers Virginia/Colonial lock.
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Davy Disney Crockett, 1959. Bi-Centennial 1975 on.
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I wanted a Jaeger is a big reason. I wanted the challenge of a flintlock - it forces you to be a marksman. I have and shoot a 21 century precision rifle wondergun that will pile bullets on a 10" plate at 700 yards. In my opinion it takes as much or more skill to pile those .62 caliber round balls into a small group at 100 yards with the flintlock. There's just something cool about taking game with technology that has been around since the 1700's. As long as the range of my (big) game is expected to be inside 100 yards or so, I reach for my flintlock nearly 100% of the time these days.
Thomas.bill92
40 Cal
When I was 15, the idea of a gun that I could order and have shipped right to my door was too much for me to resist. I got bored with it as I was trying to use Pyrodex but 15 years later I picked up the hobby again during covid and haven't looked back.
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Books! As a youngster I read about Davy and Daniel. The flintlock rifle they used intregued me then and it still does today.
Others? Got my SIL hooked big time. He shoots a Lyman GP and is making a swamped barrel flintlock starting with a blank stock.
Larry
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I started the journey into the m/l world with a T/C Hawken kit. Then I found a small shop that dealt in muzzle loaders. He had a flintlock long rifle hanging on the wall. Seeing that rifle fanned the inspiration flame and then I had to build my own flintlock rifle.
BTW, his rifle stock was the color of green. He started with nitric acid and never did a heat treatment. he never lived that down. People would always ask about the color.
BTW, his rifle stock was the color of green. He started with nitric acid and never did a heat treatment. he never lived that down. People would always ask about the color.
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Flintlocks? Being a black powder shooter and bullet caster it was just a normal thing to do.
All it took was seeing Last of the Mohicans once. It was my senior year of high school so I was around 18. I started looking at pedersolis that night, and later that year was lucky enough to buy this pretty left handed 50 cal from an older gent. He was the builder and it was nicely made. I can't remember his name for the life of me. The only thing was he used a straight barrel, and the thing handled like a telephone pole. I got rid of it when I bought a nicely balanced swamped barrel-ed rifle from one of our members. I do regret not keeping that rifle to shoot at the range or sit in the stand with. It had a piece of wood on it that nearly makes me cry thinking about it lol.
Began running the various New England 'Primitive MZL Snowshoe Biathlons about 18-years ago now, as a way to keep in shape through the Winter. Plus of course to have fun whilst shootin' too!
Back then I was using a Mowrey full octagonal percussion arm that was accurate, but heavy. We stayed at a rental cabin at the old Smuggler's Notch events and I was immediately enamored of how light and handy the smoothbore flintlocks were! The next year someone there had a lefty for sale ... bought it .... and I was hooked!
Sold off all of the 'cap guns' to boot, LOL!
Back then I was using a Mowrey full octagonal percussion arm that was accurate, but heavy. We stayed at a rental cabin at the old Smuggler's Notch events and I was immediately enamored of how light and handy the smoothbore flintlocks were! The next year someone there had a lefty for sale ... bought it .... and I was hooked!
Sold off all of the 'cap guns' to boot, LOL!
Where are some of these shoots if you don't mind me asking? I was excited to finally attend a muzzleloader shoot in Vermont back a few months ago, but Murphys law, something came up the literal night before that prevented me from going. I would love to shoot around different parts of New England and meet other shooters from our region.
